Mael Radec
Colonel Mael Radec is a leader of the Helghast army and the primary antagonist in Killzone 2. He is a ruthless and cunning leader, and tries to gain the launch codes for the nuclear weapon Red Dust. He is in charge of the Helghan defense forces and kills Captain Jan Templar and Evelyn Batton for the codes. He leads the final defense of Visari's palace and faces off against Sev and Rico. He is the final boss in the game. After being defeated, he commits suicide, rather than accept defeat and be captured. Biography Early Career Mael Radec was born sometime in the 24th century on Helghan around the time of the great depression. When Scolar Visari rose to power, Radec joined the newly formed military. Due to his extremely impressive skills, he quickly rose through the ranks. He was made Colonel for his ruthless leadership and later set up the Radec Academy in Pyrrhus city. Radec helped plan the invasion of Vekta in 2357 and worked as an adviser to Visari, along with General Lente, General Metrac, and Colonel Cobar. He never took part in the invasion himself, and remained behind to train more troops at his academy. He is a rare commander as he requires a breathing mask similar to the lower ranking Helghast. Following the death of General Metrac (and Lente and Cobar before) and the Helghast retreat from Vekta, command of the Helghast forces fell to Colonel Radec, who Visari personally entrusted to protect him. For the next two years, he prepared the defenses of Helghan in anticipation of an invasion from the ISA. Radec helped evacuate the civilians of Pyrrhus to Constantine city and set up a fleet and the Arc defenses were prepared for the likely invasion. Before the Helghast retreated from Vekta, they managed to obtain the nuclear weapon Red Dust, but failed to get the launch codes and so Radec had made it his priority to find them. Killzone 2 In 2360, the ISA set out from Vekta to capture Scolar Visari. After two weeks they arrived at Helghan and destroyed most of the fleet. The first wave of the assault was quickly defeated by Radec and the second wave, led by Colonel Templar, began an assault on Pyrrhus and quickly pushed through the city to the Salamun bridge. After taking the bridge, Alpha Squad infiltrated Radec Academy to capture Radec. Radec was in Visari Palace and set up a trap for the ISA. He then activated the Arc Pillar defenses to prevent the ISA from pushing forward. With Alpha squad, scientist Evelyn Batton goes to the wastelands to investigate the Petrosite grid that controls the Arc defenses. Radec's forces ambush them and kidnap Evelyn and two members of the squad. They are taken to Radec at Tharsis Refinery and Radec interrogates Evelyn to give her the nuclear codes, to which she says that only Templar has access to them. Radec executes another ISA soldier with them and threatens to kill Dante Garza. The other two members of Alpha, Sergeant Rico Velasquez and Sergeant Thomas Sevchenko, arrive and Radec escapes the firefight and mortally wounds Garza in the proccess. Now knowing how to get the codes, Radec directs the Helghast counterattack against the ISA cruisers anchored in the low atmosphere of Helghan, personally storming the bridge of the New Sun with two of his bodyguards. He meets Templar, both of them commenting how they wish that they could have met on the battlefield as soldiers, and demands the nuclear codes. Templar lies and says that his access clearance has been revoked, though Radec knows he is lying. He kills Evelyn, who was deleting the code data, and shoots Templar who tries to fight back. He orders his men to download the code data and leaves. After everyone evacuates the severely damaged New Sun, Templar crashes it into the Petrosite grid so that the ISA can push to the palace. Radec, with the codes now in his hands, fires Red Dust and destroys Pyrrhus, along with the ISA and Helghast forces there. After the thermonuclear destruction of Pyrrhus, Radec sends an army led by his own personal guard to crush the remaining ISA forces.The ISA lead a last-chance attack on the palace to capture Visari. Radec leads the defense of the Palace against them. The survivors push through the defenses and await the Helghast reinforcements. Rico and Sev head into the palace alone to get Visari. Radec and Visari's honor guard meet the two and face off against them. After the other troops are defeated, Radec faces the two himself but is wounded by Sev. A loyal soldier of Visari and of the Helghan Empire to the end, the badly wounded Radec shoots himself in the head rather than surrender or be taken prisoner. Characteristics Radec is one of the most (if not THE most) feared soldiers in the Helghast army. His elite squad almost always stand at his side and tend to enter rooms before he strolls in if he is breaching. Even higher ISA officers like Captain Jason Narville respect him, his abilities, and his squad knowing that there is a high chance of defeat if he is in the area. A brilliant soldier noted for leading from the front, he shares his ruler's ruthlessness but not his passion for conquest and genocide. Visari still trust him with his life despite these 'shortcomings'. Radec is the human personification of the shark. He is highly evolved for his specific function and utterly focused on his duties. It is almost as if he has willingly burned out any personality, education, or characteristics that do not contribute to the swift and resolute execution of his duties. Radec is a gifted tactician, but merely a competent strategist. His genius is not in the planning but in the fighting of battles. He combines situational awareness with a near-perfect assessment of the capabilities of both his own men and the opposing force. He is supremely skilled in the meshing of the various arms of combat, being capable of meshing Armour, Infantry, Air, and Artillery forces into a single tactical operation with precision and flair. In personal combat he is ruthless, viscious, and overwhelming. ;Radec :is the epitome of the Helghast. He is very intelligent, somewhat villainous, and menacingly calm. He speaks in a sly, sharp tone.He is quick to anger though and will make sure that he gets what he wants. He does have some sense of battlefield honor though, preferring to fight in combat and wishes that he could have defeated Templar like a soldier. He is also extremely ruthless with his men. He was known to have executed two men for uniform violations. Description Radec is quite tall and wears a very decorative, high-ranking uniform. He is the only known Helghast commander to require the same breathing apparatus as the other soldiers. He wears a unique colonel's helmet with it, and his face is never seen. Although his face is never properly seen, when he is talking to Templar, a part of his mask is moved back automatically and you can see his eyes. Like most Helghast, he has pale skin, and is likely bald and frail looking. His suit enables him to cloak himself and teleport from one place to another. He always carries with him a STA 18 pistol and a combat knife. When fighting Sev and Rico, he uses a STA 3 Light Machine Gun. Trivia *Many have said he is a reference to 1940s dictator Adolf Hitler as they share many traits but this has been dismissed over time. Likewise he is more alike to one of Hitler's personal favorite Generals under his command, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Like Radec, Rommel (nicknamed the Desert Fox) was known to be a brilliant tactician but just a merely competent strategist. It was because of this he earned the respect and admiration of his enemies, the most famous of which was Winston Churchill and George Patton. Althrough both had committed suicide, it was for different reasons. For Rommel, it was to protect his family after he was ordered by the Nazi Party to do so after the latter heard alleged rumors of him planning to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Failure to do so meant that his entire family was to be swiftly executed. For Radec, his choice of suicide was to avoid an humilating capture by the hands of Alpha Squad and the ISA. While Rommel was a compassionate chivalrous man, and one of the few German Generals of WWII never accused of committing a war crime, as well as an opponent to Hitler and the Third Reich, Radec was none of these. Instead of opposing Visari, Radec embrace the Fascism he preached, as well as accepting the brutality and sheer ruthlessness that made him so legendary in the Helghast Military. *Radec is voiced by Sean Pertwee who also voices Colonel Gregor Hakha in Killzone. Ironically Sean Pertwee is the only voice actor in the series to play Helghast characters in support and against Scolar Visari. *When fighting Radec in the palace, one of the paintings in the hall has Visari with Radec and the previous villains of the series (Lente, Metrac, and Cobar). Category:Characters Category:Helghast